Research Question: Does the Country-Year: V-Dem Core Data show a distinction between GCC monarchies compared to countries that are known as democratic in North Africa ?

Methodology: Data for this study was sourced from the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, focusing on the Country-Year: V-Dem Core dataset. The analysis centers on two distinct geographic regions: the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) and North African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia).

Major Findings: The findings from these visuals collectively support the notion that overall countries in North Africa are more democratic in comparison to their GCC counterparts.

Regional Contrasts: North African countries demonstrate higher levels of liberal democracy, attributed to factors such as civil liberties protections, rule of law, and effective checks and balances. The polyarchy variable(v2x_polyarchy) highlights distinct differences between GCC monarchies and more known democratic countries in Northern Africa. Monarchies in the GCC region (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE) generally exhibit lower levels of democracy compared to North African nations (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan). The index of liberal democracy (v2x_libdem) combines measures of polyarchy and liberal principles to assess the extent of achieving liberal democracy ideal.When looking at both variables to asses polyarchy, North African countries, with a history of democratic movements, show higher levels of democratic practices compared to GCC monarchies, which retain traditional forms of governance.

Further analysis of the V-Dem Core data reveals that within the GCC, Oman and Kuwait exhibit relatively higher levels of polyarchy compared to other GCC monarchies, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar demonstrate lower levels.When examining specific indicators of polyarchy such as political competition and civil liberties, North African countries consistently outperform GCC nations, reflecting a broader trend towards democratization in the region. Specifically, the analysis of polyarchy—measuring political competition and inclusiveness—reveals significant disparities. GCC countries demonstrate lower polyarchy levels, indicating limited political competition and citizen participation relative to North African democracies. Countries even within the GCC have varied levels of Polyarchy when compared to eachother and the same goes for North Africa countries.